Acer TimelineX 3820TG Owners Lounge. Info, benchmarks, tweaks, mods and upgrades

Would there be any performance gain by adding 8 GB of ram? I am wondering if it will be worth it... better multitasking, better gaming performance?

4GB ram DDR3 modules are still sorta expenssive!

 

I think, that the 8GB ram is just too expensiv for a few FPS more.

 

Somebody needs to adapt 1810 Tray to the 3820T.

Bronsky

 

I doubt it would be worth it to be honest, you would get a slight boost if it was 1333Mhz DD3 ram Vs the stock 1066Mhz

Also some things I haven't covered are 3dmark06 with default res 1280 x 1024 on my LG monitor is 83xx points. This is overclocked GPU.

Installing the latest Realtek HD audio drivers (Link on frist post) will increase the speak volume a little and mic seems slightly better too.

Wireless card is surprising good (using the Acer driver), it can hold better transfer rates than my Intel AGN card (300 mbps flat vs 200-300 variable on my intel) I can also pick up a few networks my other computers can't so I will not be upgrading to the 6200 AGN card i think. Not worth it.

*Note with the lid closed and using my monitor via hdmi, I see 3 bars off signal VS 5 with the lid is up. The rate is still transfer rate is 300mbps however.

battery life your looking at around 7 hours & 30 mins with the second lowest brightness and wifi on. Normal office and web surfing. I think my SSD has added maybe an extra 30mins? This is with the intel GFX of course. With the ATI card I say would 3 maybe 4 hours max.

The 9 cell version should get 10 hours I think. At least, if not more.

 

Whoo hoo, backlit keyboard just arrived. Will post some photos in a short while, just need to finish some work here.

So far I can confirm 100% original size and style, matte keys and the quality seems better than the original added bonus.

Its missing the wifi on off logo on F3 no biggy if you ask me I'll just have to remember that its F3.

 

I don't think the I5/I7 can use anything faster than 1066Mhz. The ram upgrade will boost performance only in a couple of really limited situations. It is the least bang you can get for your buck on this unit.

Bronsky

@Hendrcikson ... good news about the keyboard. Can't wait to see it post-surgery. Is your LG 24"

 

About 8 GB Ram - Well, what about video editing? Wont that benefit from 8 GB Ram... or will it benefit from having multiple applications open. Could that mean that I could use itunes, firefox, crysis, microsoft word and have all of them open and running at the same time, smoothly? every laptop I have ever had have always struggled with gaming + itunes open.. thats why I dont listen to music anymore when I game. it kills the FPS...



Hendrickson, could you post pictures of the entire process? I have no idea how you would do this without breaking it... I tried taking the keyboard off, of an older laptop I have, and I basically broke the keyboard... the keys where impossible to get on again after having them off.. i think that was a chicklet keyboard.
to get backlight you would have to do wirering with the motherboard and stuff like that?

 

Is there an undervolt tool that works with the 3820 TG? That, along with a fan control proggie would really rock.

 

Ill see what i can do, i think i will need a service manual and practice soldering before i attempt this. i have no idea really when it comes to getting power to the backlit keyboard..

 

It's interesting to watch someone else doing this stuff first. Usually it's me. I must say that I prefer watching you do it.

Go slow on this one my friend. For now, I would just put the keyboard in and worry about the backlighting later when we have the chance to dig up an old 3810T and new 3820T manual. I really suspect that there is a residual plug somewhere. When I get my 3820TG, i'll crack it open and go exploring with ya. No hurry at the moment. If you're going ahead anyway ... be careful.

@luffytubby - multitasking is the one place you will probably see the difference. It's a lot of money for such a small gain. Video editing will not likely be appreciably faster.

@olloll0 - a modified 1810 tray would do this too.

 

Sounds good! *Keeping fingers crossed someone skilled in programming will take on this task*

 

Bronsky - Ok mate.
Bronsky, is it true that you mentioned a long time ago, in the other thread, that there wouldn't be significant performance gains of going i7 620, over the i5 530?





Another question. I've been digging further through the whole keyboard thing.

I've learned that Sony Vaio and Apple keyboard layout, is called "Island layout". I guess it's because it looks like there are lots of spaces between the keys.
My question is - Does 3820 use the same keyboard as 3810. Because from what I've seen around the net about the 3810, is that people love the keyboard. This lady in particularly. She said the keyboard was one of her favorite things about it(3810) : YouTube - Acer Aspire Timeline 3810T Video Review - Editors' Choice

So has notebookcheck been smoking with their statements about poor keyboard?

 

does anyone know if if the hdmi and vga can be used to output to two external monitors at the same time?

 

Q1 - No. I am in the minority that thinks that the extra price of the I7-620M is worth the difference from the I5-520M or the 540M. True you pay more for a smaller increase than you get from the 520 to the 540, but if you can use the extra performance, the higher price is worth it when you consider the cost over the life of the unit. You won't see the results of the performance in gaming probably becuase the GPU will reach capacity first. You will see the increase in CPU intensive tasks or hyprid tasks that are more CPU dependent.

My main task for my laptop is assembling presentations. At least a portion of the presentations are usually spliced and edited GIS files (satellite images like you are seeing in the Gulf Spill). Then the laptop is used for presenting and displaying the presentation on a smart board. I have used a lot of machines to do this and I find that I can feel even marginal increases in CPU power.

Keyboard - it seems to be the same as the 3810T. I have the Acer island keyboard on the 1410T that I use everyday. I type about 4-6 hours a day at ~85 wpm. My last notebook was a vostro 1500 and it had a wonderful keyboard. It took a bit of time to transition to the Acer. I am use to it now, so my speed has returned. My accuracy is not as good as it was. In all, the Acer keyboard layout is acceptable but not optimal.

Bronsky

 

luck with the keyboard!

 

It is possible, though you have to modify the vga adapter cable - removing the screws on the side of the vga cable - , because hdmi and vga output on the 382otg are too close together.

 

It kills the illusion too.

 

I believe it should work with eRecovery. Can't see why it should not.

The recovery partition is simply an image of the main partition (C) as it was when delivered from the factory, if you use it to recover the factory state, you will be back to 32 bit if that's what it was delivered with.

If I decide to keep this lappy, I will install W7 Professional, but I'll keep the recovery partition anyway. It's nice to have available, esp. since the hdd is so huge. If I upgrade to SSD later, I'll chuck the recovery option, though.

Anyway, I'm not so sure I will keep it. The Envy 14 is really tempting, and I will be home (working) most of the summer, so I probably won't use the laptop much, since I have my desktop with two large monitors and all that. The Envy 14 should be available in Norway before the new semester starts in August, and if it turns out to be rubbish or extremely overpriced, I can always just get the 3820TG then, probably with a better CPU than what is available now. I think I would regret not waiting for Envy when I see the display on it. The 3820TG display is really nothing to write home about (for film lovers like me).

 

Ok, got the keyboard.

The good, its 100% compatible the 3810T keybaord with the 3820TG and its qaulity is great. Less flex, nicer feedback (Typing on it now)

The bad: Its aprox .5 mm thinker than the original, its not much. And I expected this due to the led lighting inside. So its a bit of a mission to get it to clip down in the same space. But it is possible with a little bit of bending and removing a bit of plastic insert where it clips in below. (not as bad as it sounds, however if you couldn't care less for a backlit keyboard just by a 3810T one)

(Ive taken photos)

The keyboard doesn't touch the screen. Not from what I can see. Depending on how I feel I may or may not attempt to open her up and take the 5v from the bluetooth card. (I'm a bit green in this area) Will look for ICS clockgen chip while im there.

 

have you thought about taking the 5v from one of the USB ports? it might be easier as USB have a standard pin layout and you should be able to solder straight to the rear of one of the ports.

 

Hendrickson, you are a brave man!





Everyone - We've had a discussion about harddrive/SSD efficency in the gaming forum, and someone mentioned this.

Seagate Momentus XT... Never heard of this before. It combines a SSD with a hard drive. Or its basically a hard drive, with 4 GB SSD to help optimize speed... very interesting: YouTube - Seagate Momentus XT

The only problem that I can see is that it has a higher power consumption... so it kills battery faster. Does anyone know anything else about this drive? Do you think that would be a good drive for 3820?

 

I would expect that the harder soldering job is going to be the leads to the ribbon on the back of the keyboard. Soldering to the leads on the BT or USB would be about the same (IMHO). The one advantage I see to soldering the BT module is that it can be removed and soldered outside the case to avoid any accidents or heat transfer issues.

Even if you don't solder the leads I would be interested in pictures of shaving down the keyboard to make it fit. If there is a way to improve the keyboard, it's worth considering.

Bronsky

@luffytubby - drive is an interesting idea but the 4GB SSD is way too small to make the drive effective in most commercial applications. Gaming might be a good use for it.

 

@Hendrickson - the new gateway 13" has a glowing trackpad. I wonder if Acer made an entirely new motherboard for the E339C or if it uses the same motherboard that's in 3820T. If so, it would be interesting to see where the touchpad draws its power.

Gateway gets snazzy with glowing touchpads on EC39C and ID49C08u laptops -- Engadget

Bronsky

 

Hi,

Does anyone know which models have "sim card slot", so one could install
UMTS module inside? As I've understood there is one free mini-pcie inside?

I can tell you that LX.PTC02.055 (AS3820T-334G32n) doesn't have sim card slot, it's just a hole without sim card reader.

If you have 3820TG you can check do you have sim card reader by removing battery and removing black (very similar colour as the plastic) tape which is located in the same wall as battery pins. Under the tape is hole. That hole would eat SIM cards, but check it carefully that it really has a reader.

 

agree...

and there is no way the SSD is giving you another 30 minutes . but with that said, the SSD is probably the most bang for your buck.

Good luck w/ the backlit keyboard mod Hendrickson!

 

I think I solved it.
I uninstalled both cards and started over, but this time I avoided to install the control center that comes with 10.5, and just kept the acer one.


Hendrickson, big thanks for this thread. It's extremely informative and has saved me hours and hours of pain.

 

I have just endured hours of pain, I am however (never thought i would, be typing on a backlit US keyboard.) The worlds first backlit keyboard 3820TG

I can say this, it was a MISSON! I first had taken power from the USB and found two issues, 1 the backlit screen was waaay too bright at 5v, makes a high pitch noise? And when in sleep its still powered.. Ended up finding 3.5v off the speaker 1 power cable. (Doesn't effect sound at all) At 3.5v i find this brightness perfect. In daylight you dont see its backlit much. However at night its a good brightness, not harsh like before. Good and the battery life might be a bit better vs 5v. Not that we would notice i guess.

(Makes me think that Asus UL30vt backlit mod the keys must be insanely bright.)

I'll write up a how too soon, but it will not be easy. At least I've done the hard work for you all. The keyboard is also difficult to put back in (The backlit)

You have to solder a super tiny join and it was almost the end of me and the idea. After about 10 goes I got it connected....You need to be good with a solder iron for this..steady at hand and as patient as a pope. Everything I am not

I'll write up a how too soon, but it will not be an easy task for me. I'm not sure I'll have time to make a thread before. I leave on Monday for 1 week traveling. At least I've done the hard work for you all and found a good source. The keyboard is also difficult to put back in (The backlit)

All and all im happy with the outcome

The light at the end of the tunnel..



The two side by side



Same connector 3820TG


The connectors 100% equal

I took the ground from (Negative)

Insulation tape just in case

And this is a biggest mission, tapping into that 3.5volts - Almost did me in.





Photos dont do it justice..


Photos dont do it justice..




P.S love the lower noise and better feel/ feedback of the new keyboard Oh and if you like my efforts, please give me some Rep+

 

Hendrickson, you are a king among peasants. Kudos.

 

Wow, that's really cool. But can you disable the backlight?

 

You are the god of 3820tg's Hendrick! Hands down...

Would you be able to change the color of the back light to say red or blue or green maybe?

and would that take out some power consumption time? say from 7:30 hours will now become 7 or 6 maybe?

 

amazing hendrickson! I don't know how to rep?

 

rep button is on the left side underneath the rep power which is underneath the avatar of the god hendrick. one with the balance/weighing scale icon..

 

Very nice job. Could you post a detail of the connection between the jumper wire and the ribbon on the keyboard. Did you have to shave any plastic off the keyboard? Does it clear the display when it is closed?

It looks real nice. You are the man.

If I could rep you again I would.

Bronsky

@luffytubby on the bottom of the left section here, you will see a green light, scales and a triangle. Click on the scales and give the rep to Hendrickson that he deserves.

 

Power off and on would be fantastic

congratulations for this mod hendrick

Your vendor has the Spanish version?

 

Hendrickson，you are the man

I don't know how to say.

Really thank you very much.

 

I just got an erection


Edit- My rep comment- "Wonderful effort in the face of great danger for the good of mankind"

 

So, I just watched that 3810T review by the LaptopMag lady on youtube. The notebook looks really good. It totally exceeded my expectations for Acer stuff. The quality looks great for its price/size. Honestly, I dont even think Sony's ultraportable sized notebooks are even that great in quality. Personally I like HP and Lenovo's qualities. Hopefully we get more news of the Timelines's availability here in the U.S. (and California specifically)

 

Hendrick i have a quick question please , on amd gpu clock tool, should it indicate on pcie status that the link width is x16 if driver 10.5 is successfully installed? Thanks

 

I think its going to be on 100% of the time unless you disable the sound card maybe that cuts the power to it? I will check it out, it was the only real option i could find.

This LED is white so you can't change it, maybe lost 30mins I really don't know. But 3.5v and 500mA can't consume too much?

I will post some pictures, on the connector for the led power i did lightly scratch it up a bit so the solder would stick to it. I'll try and get some more info up on this soon.

Yes it keyboard clears the display but only just by about 1 mm, when i travel i always place a piece of cloth between the screen and keys anyway.

I cut a little bit off the shiny plastic that sits inside from the bottom tabs (where its holds the keyboard in place). I also bent these down a bit more so the keyboard would ride up.

I would be possible to mount a touch senor to on/off the lights. I wasn't worried about this are don't mind its on when the notebook is on.

Not sure about a backlit Spanish version

Yes the link says x16

 

Thanks hendrick you are absolutely amazing! Got mine working faster now that i've installed 64 bit. Current stats: Wei 5.9, 9199 3dmarks @ 650/1060 OC, all under 55Celcius during the work.ü

 

Thank you mate,

love your post.. Time to water cooling it :x

 

It's the only thing he hasn't done yet.

Bronsky

 

That and fitting a better display.

 

Replacing one of the USB 2.0 ports for a 3.0...

 

Poor hendrickson has his work cut out for himself with this crowd.

Bronsky

 

About the fans
When doing light stuff, like reading this forum, are the fans always on, or do they turn on and off intermittantly? Perhaps the fan for the graphics compartment only runs when the ATI graphics is used?

Cheers!

 

hendrickson

If get the power from USB(5V) connect to keyboard, put a resistance in the circle, then the keyboard can get 3V DC power, do you know how much resistancer should be?(Ω

Thank you

 

Is that i5 430m or higher? Your 3dmark is good


Yes the fans do turn off and on, infact they run for some time off, before switching on. I saw this first hand when i had the whole front off and the machine powered. I was worried a bit as I was looking at the 5v also from the fan1 power. I once stage I thought i had done something to it lol. But then it came on.

@Peter, the issue here is the USB is always be on when in sleep mode. Something you maybe find with. Sorry info about resistors etc I cannot remember since my days of electronics class about 12 years ago as a teen

I forgot to mention, without the service manual I did not attempt to find the ICS clock generator or AS5 the CPU. You have to remove the whole mainboard as the CPU is in the middle of the PCB on the underside of it.

I may or may not upgrade the CPU a i7 620m. For now im quite happy with the i5 430m as its no way near has hot as the i7's which can push it close to 97 degrees and then throttle. Something i don't want. Might just wait for the highest i5

I will try battery eater pro tonight and see what difference the LED's make.

 

@Acer insider - any idea how we can order a service manual for the 3820TG?

Bronsky

 

Nice work Hendrickson! Rep added!

I've returned my unit, recieved the new one today, good to see the backlit mod!

I agree with Hendrickson, the 430M does seem to perform well, I think it'd be enough for users.